Up to 1200 hotel employees will be recruited by Marriott International in Dubai for the opening of the first phase of JW Marriott Marquis Dubai in Q4, 2012. Hotel manager Bill Keffer told Hotelier Middle East that 1100-1200 staff would be required for phase one, which comprises 804 rooms and all 12 F&B outlets at the property. The total staff count will rise to around 1300 when another 804 rooms launch in phase two of the hotel opening. This will bring the total number of keys to 1608, making JW Marriott Marquis the largest hotel in Dubai by number of rooms. The property, which features two ballrooms, will specifically target business travellers and the MICE market. General manager Rupprecht Quietsch said: “This hotel is perfectly built and designed for the business traveller and conventions”. He added: “This hotel has facilities that can match a lot of the facilities in Europe and Asia so it is not a only a key hotel in the Dubai market, but we also compete with all kinds of destinations”.